The Future of Event Ticketing.

Currently most event ticket sales are made online and fulfilled with an electronic QR or bar code that the customer shows for scanning on entrance to the event. It’s a far cry from just ten years ago when paper tickets were still commonplace. What are the next trends to watch for in this rapidly moving technology for ticket sales?  

Paper tickets always presented a plethora of problems for events, there was the expense of printing and distributing physical tickets that were also open to fraudulent copying as well as inflated resale scams. Not only that but the customer experience was never that great either, lost tickets and long queues to gain entrance were added frustrations. 

Currently most event tickets are purchased through an online agent and fulfilled by email or another direct communication to the customer’s mobile device and payment is made through various payments providers. The event ticketing space is constantly changing so what are the technologies being explored now that you are likely to see in the very near future?  

Biometrics and facial scans.
Facial recognition and other biometric scans are being tested by some event ticketing companies primarily to ease the event entry process. This relies on the customer pre-logging their biometrics or facial scan in a secure database. Once a ticket purchase is confirmed this is logged against the customer. At the event entrance it's a simple process of getting your face scanned to enter, no more fumbling around to find your QR or bar code. 

For the event organisers this technology gives multiple benefits, it's easier the log customer flows and aids future event planning, plus, for sensitive events you can add in data from multiple watch lists to quickly identify any potential threats. 

New Payment methods.
As the use of mobile wallets increases it is becoming more popular to purchase goods and services via social media and chatbots including the likes of Alexa and Siri for example. Crypto currencies have been around for  some  time but as more customers hold these funds the demand to pay using something like Bitcoin has been increasing, it’s a payment currency you should certainty consider offering as it grows in popularity. Related to facial scans, some payment providers are exploring a form of  ‘Face Pay’ where your account details are linked to your facial scan and when you wish to make a purchase this can be done by simply scanning your face, no other actions are required to process the payment.        

Privacy and Regulation.
If companies start collecting facial scans and other biometric data there surely will be concerns from customers regarding their privacy and use of that data. In most countries there is fairly robust data protection legislation that operators using personal data must adhere to. These regulations provide recourse to customers that believe companies are misusing customer data. The key going forwards is to communicate to customers your compliance with data protection regulations and convince them that their data is safe.

When using an event software solution like FestivalPro you will find comprehensive ticketing and payments functionality. Festival Pro are always developing their technology to embrace new payments and ticketing solutions so event organisers will never get left behind. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and are performance artists themselves. Using a system like this you can be rest assured that new ticketing and payment technology will always form part of the FestivalPro development.

Photo by Alexandros Chatzidimos from Pexels

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